I don't dance
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Daphne is sore after a night of dancing awkwardly with her date.


Daphne sat down with a sigh, bending over to peel off her shoes, cursing Dumbledore in her head. Or rather, cursing anyone and everyone who had thought shoving a few hundred teenagers into the Great Hall and have them all dance would ever be a good idea. After several hours on the floor with her date, Daphne was exhausted and sore all over, and if she never heard another Weird Sister's song, it would be too soon.

She turned to look across the table at her date, the fairly attractive Theodore Nott, who was sipping a Butterbeer quietly, avoiding her gaze. Though he had been the one to ask her out, and had even seemed rather interested in her at the time, Theodore had been awkward and silent all night. He was staring down at his green dance robes and generally just making Daphne feel rather uncomfortable, as he had been doing the whole dance.

The Slytherin gave her date another glance, but when several seconds had passed with Theodore blatantly staring in the opposite direction, she gave up, standing up very slowly with shoes in hand, wondering if she would have time to finish another chapter of her book if her other roommates were all still here at the dance.

"Where're you going now, Daph?" Theodore asked suddenly as she started the slow, long walk back to the dungeons, cursing the flaring pain shooting up her left leg. "Tired already, are we?" Theodore gave her a lopsided grin, and Daphne's first thought was that he was totally, absolutely smashed, which made her wrinkle her nose, now even more determined to return to her dorm for a quiet end to the night, away from all the noise.

"You seemed disinterested in me, Theo," Daphne replied somewhat coldly, shifting from one foot to the other, looking for the most comfortable position to stand in, wishing Theodore would just admit he wasn't having any fun with her so that Daphne could finally leave. "I am merely making up for clearly wasted time by returning to my dorm to do something a bit more…_productive_ with what time I have left before the rest of my dorm mates return and because wreaking havoc."

"Oh." Theodore looked mildly put out as he clambered to his feet, looking down at her with slightly unfocused eyes. "I'm sorry that I made you feel that way, Daph. I didn't know that I _was _acting disinterested. Honestly, I thought _you _were kind of frustrated or bored by me, but I didn't mean to make you feel ignored or anything like that."

That gave Daphne reason to pause as she squinted up at Theodore, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or merely just winding her up as part of some big practical joke at her expense. Though they had been in the same house and year for four years now, Daphne had had very little reason to talk to Theodore Nott before, and she wasn't sure whether or not he was the type to tease a girl.

"Say, Daph, before you go upstairs for the night, would you like to go for a walk with me?" Theodore asked suddenly, holding out a hand to her like he expected Daphne to take it and stroll out of the Great Hall with him as though they were characters out of one of those romance novels that Tracey Davis was always reading. "Stebbins told me it was snowing outside and the lawn is supposed to be absolutely stunning right now."

"Stebbins?" Daphne repeated somewhat incredulously, recalling the 5th year, a slightly addle-brained Hufflepuff who wasn't known for being very friendly towards Slytherins. "What were you doing conversing with Stebbins about the weather for?"

Theodore turned a shade of red, looking down at the floor for a second, letting his outstretched hand fall to his side limply as he blushed. Daphne rolled her eyes, wondering why he was insisting on making this whole night more awkward and uncomfortable than it already was. He was attractive to look at, but Daphne wasn't sure if dealing with Theodore was worth it.

"Uh, you know, we were just sort of chatting as he was coming by with his little girlfriend. He just sort of mentioned it in, uh, passing, I think. Stebbins might have been drunk, I wouldn't put it past him to go get crashed on Firewhiskey and make out with that bird of his," Theodore replied, wringing his hands as he spoke, like he was worried about being caught for something, similar to a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Daphne gave him another bewildered look, wondering why he was acting so out of place; normally, Theodore was fairly cool and collected, walking through Hogwarts like he wasn't even able to _see _any of the other students, they were so far below him, but here was Theodore Nott now, blushing like a teenage girl with her first crush.

"Listen, Theo, I think I might just go up to my room instead. I am not a very big fan of the cold to begin with, and you are acting rather off anyway," Daphne said, and Theodore's eyes went wide as he moved forward to kiss her on the lips, catching Daphne off-guard with his sudden movement. She had not thought Theodore the type to be spontaneous, and certainly not around her, when there were so many other girls who were prettier and happier than she was.

"I was going to ask you on our walk, but I suppose now is as good a time as any other," Theodore said, and it was Daphne's turn to blush a deep colour, looking at Theodore in embarrassment, wondering how she had not realised before that he liked her. She had harboured a crush for him as well for several months, but tucked her feelings away in the interest of avoiding hurt feelings. "Daphne Greengrass, I want, no, I _need _to know if you would like to be my girlfriend."

"You are an idiot, Theodore Nott," Daphne said, laughing quietly, and Theodore cocked his head, giving her a bemused glance as she leaned in to peck him on the mouth. He _was _very handsome to look at, and clearly more of an awkward duck than she had originally thought him to be. "I would _love _to be your girlfriend, of course, as long as you promise not to take me on any walks in sub-freezing weather when I am clearly sore and exhausted."

"Alright," Theodore replied, giving her another grin as Daphne took his arm, leaning against his shoulder as he helped her out of the Great Hall and past the stairs. Theodore took Daphne's shoes and held them in his other hand as they made their way down to the dungeons, discussing the latest book Daphne was reading. For the first time all night, Daphne found herself honestly smiling, and no matter how hard she might have tried, the smile could not be wiped off.

Not, of course, that she really wanted to stop smiling as she walked slowly with her new boyfriend, feeling important and special for what was probably the first time in a long time. Daphne couldn't help but lean upward, stretching on her toes, to give Theodore one more lingering kiss before continuing their walk in peaceful solitude.


End file.
